Voice
LONE TREE 1/17/13
Lone Tree
January 17, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlonetreenews.com
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 1
School board member resigns
AN OPENING STATEMENT
Gerken’s seat will be filled within 60 days By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com
Gov. John Hickenlooper gives his State of the State address to a joint session of the Colorado General Assembly on Jan. 10 at the state Capitol. Guns, marijuana, civil unions and the economy were among topics of Hickenlooper’s speech. More coverage, Pages 10-11. Photo by Courtney Kuhlen
Procedure attacks cancer point-blank Man could get more time with family By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com Father of three Timothy Forehand wants more time with his young daughters. A new procedure for patients with his form of liver cancer may give him several more months. That’s a precious gift to a man who a year ago was told he likely wouldn’t survive for one more month. Forehand underwent surgery to install the device that’s expected to extend his life Jan. 8 at Sky Ridge Medical Center. He among the first patients in the United States to undergo the process, and Sky Ridge is the first of a handful of centers permitted to perform it pending approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The Dallas man was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in January 2012. The fastgrowing eye cancer already had spread to his liver, where tumors typically are lethal. “It’s a devastating diagnosis,” said Dr. Charles Nutting, who performed the procedure. “Survival is only a couple months.” The procedure performed last week concentrates chemotherapy treatment to Forehand’s liver, instead of his entire body, so high doses of cancer-fighting chemicals can saturate the organ. The idea, Nutting said, is to “try and really beat up the tumors as much as you can.” The drug-infused blood is then collected as it leaves the liver, filtered to remove as much of the chemicals as possible, and returned to the body. The method not only targets and intensifies the treatment, but minimizes side effects. “Normally, in chemotherapy, you have to give so much poison the patient can’t handle it,” said Dr. Krishna Kandarpa, chief medical officer with the company that created the filtration device, Delcath Systems. “Now, you can isolate it to the liver instead of the whole body.” The procedure is minimally invasive, requiring three small incisions into which catheters are inserted. It is not a cure. Rather, it slows the tumors’ progress, typically prolonging the
Doctors and nurses prepare Timothy Forehand for surgery Jan. 8 at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree. The Dallas man was diagnosed a year ago with cancer that has since spread to his liver. Photo by Courtney Kuhlen
‘What we’re trying to do is help minimize the impact of the disease, trying to make them feel better for a longer period of time until we find that next magic bullet.’ Dr. Charles Nutting lives of ocular melanoma patients by about six months. Some have lived an additional three to five years. Even six months, Kandarpa said, is remarkable. “In the oncology world, people get excited if you get 15 days, a month (of life extension),” he said. Forehand, speaking from his Dallas home three days post-surgery, said he was exhausted but looking forward to recovery and a return to his normal pattern. That means hanging out with 5-, 10- and 11-year-old daughters and his wife. “We spend as much time as we can together, and that’s a lot,” he said. “I don’t really worry about prognosis anymore be-
cause it’s all irrelevant. I don’t think one day at a time. I live my life the way anybody would. I do my best to enjoy my life with my family.” Kandarpa sees its treatment in ocular melanoma as “a platform” from which researchers can work toward treating other tumors. A significant delay in a tumor’s progress, Nutting said, is a step toward the cure he believes someday will come. “What we’re trying to do is help minimize the impact of the disease, trying to make them feel better for a longer period of time until we can find that next magic bullet,” he said.
Douglas County School Board Vice President Dan Gerken resigned the week of Jan. 7, and already has stepped down from his seat. He cited growing family and work obligations. Board President John Carson said the group will begin the process of finding his replacement during the Jan. 15 board meeting. Gerken was elected to the board in 2009, and his term was set to expire in November. He did not return calls for comment, Gerken but Carson said there is no mystery surrounding his resignation from the education reform-focused board. “We depend on people being willing to take a lot of time out of their lives and work and families to do this,” he said, noting board members invest at least 20 hours a month to the unpaid post. “Dan has served selflessly in that capacity for over three years now. I greatly appreciate what he’s done for our school district.” Carson said Gerken first approached him about resigning shortly after the new year. “I tried to talk him out of (resigning), but he made his decision,” he said. Though the board has often been criticized for its fast-paced reform efforts, Carson said he doesn’t believe that was a factor in Gerken’s resignation. “If you run for office, you have to be prepared for that,” he said. “Speaking for myself, the reason I got involved in public education was to make some changes in public education that I think have been needed for a long time. I know Dan felt that way as well.” In seven years on the board, Carson said this is the fourth vacancy filled by appointment. “It’s not an infrequent occurrence,” he said. The board has 60 days to fill the empty seat. Any candidate must live in Gerken’s district — District D — which extends from Castle Pines to the southeast corner of the county. Potential school board candidates must be at least 18 years of age, a 12-month resident and registered voter of the district, and have no direct or indirect interest in district contracts. All current school board members are registered Republicans, but the office is officially nonpartisan. “We’re just looking for people that are interested in improving public education, continuing to make our school district the best, and keep making it stronger,” Carson said. Gerken, a father of two, lives in Castle Pines with his wife, Gina. He is chairman and co-founder of Gerken Taxman Interests, a commercial real estate investment and development company.
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